The entire concept is pretty simple: punch in your Starbucks Card info, verify some details, and BAM! The iPhone app becomes the gift card, presenting a secure QR code for the Barista to scan when it comes time to pay up.

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

I thought it was a bit unnecessary when Starbucks launched a store locator iPhone app. I mean, just look around; they are on every corner. But I thought it was pretty smart when it introduced a mobile payment app. This is the kind of thing analysts are talking about when they present their bullish reports on the mobile money and commerce space. Apple was smart to team up with Starbucks for an app of this sort, as it gives the iPhone-maker an active role in mCommerce.

This is a role that carriers are trying to fill as well. I had an interesting CTIA chat with Alcatel-Lucent’s mobile money expert Anthony Belpaire about why carriers should be the axis around which mobile money rotates. It makes a lot of sense: They own the billing relationship with their consumers, as well as important demographics about them, and they are in need of new revenue streams. But they have proven that they don’t work fast. Mobile commerce is a space that is heating up quickly. Granted, Starbucks going from 16 stores to 1000 isn’t going to change the game, but it’s a really good start that I expect other merchants will follow. Who they turn to to enable the service — handset-makers, app store owners or carriers — is still up for grabs.

Starbuck’s app payment-capable store locator (more important as this feature is still limited) tells me there’s a Starbucks in a Target two miles away with this feature. In the name of research, I’ll be right back.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

Verizon will follow Apple’s lead, by sharing 70 percent of revenues with developers and by keeping 30 percent for themselves. Developers who choose to use the V CAST Apps store will also have access to the carrier’s billing platform, and other APIs, such as a user’s location. Presumably, customers will enjoy these conveniences, as well. For instance, BlackBerry’s App World is connected to PayPal, not the carrier’s bill. Verizon also said it will help market the applications, including on its web site, which is the No. 26 web property in the U.S. and has 60 million registered users (half of which visit the site every month).

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

When it comes down to it, VZW’s V Cast Apps is strikingly similar to the Brew Get It Now portal it has had on deck since 2001. It is easy to see why the carrier is looking to make its app presence more distinctly known. With 38 other competing stores on the market, it had to have its own offering to be competitive. To be successful, however, it has to offer something better than its competitors.

VZW’s biggest competitive advantage would appear to be its billing process, followed closely by its depth of subscriber knowledge (if it shares it). In addition to reportedly leveraging exclusives, offering up its location APIs and bringing premium quality apps, VZW will charge for those apps directly on the phone bill without the need to enter a credit card. Buying apps should require much less, though, for consumers, as the fee gets lost in their already large smartphone bills. V Cast Apps will be very important to VZW, as smartphones continue to drive its growth and data plans continue to be the largest revenue generator. The carrier has promised that its store will complement others on the market and will provide a better experience. That, plus its integrated billing, will be the main drivers of its success (or not).

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

“This pilot is especially timely, given the Federal Communications Commission’s March 17 National Broadband Plan announcement, which recognized a clear need for improving the communications infrastructure to modernize the electric grid. GE’s pilot falls directly in line with the plan’s call for a potent, clearly defined reliable and integrated infrastructure to strengthen America’s energy future and enable the promise of the smart grid to become reality.”

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

WiMax may appear to be overkill for the smart grid, which only requires low data-rate transmissions, but it is particularly appealing because it can scale to include any functionality that utilities may want to add to the grid. And it can do it much cheaper than 3G technologies. Trials and deployments are driven today by advanced metering infrastructure, but that could grow to include demand response, supervisory control and data acquisition, electric vehicles, and other energy- and cost-saving applications.

Sprint, which is a GE and GridNet partner, has been pushing WiMax for the grid for some time now. Sprint CEO Dan Hesse admitted to CTIA attendees yesterday that WiMax won’t be larger than competing technology long-term evolution, but that the carrier is focusing instead on making it the first technology out of the gate. That should give it a leg up in attracting utility partners to use the network, as well. GridNet already supplies its software to Australian utility SP AusNet, which has been deploying WiMax-based smart-grid technologies over Unwired Australia wireless spectrum. The market in the U.S. has been slower to move, but today’s announcement should be encouraging. Utilities are eager to build out their smart-grid strategies and many are looking to partners to help with the network infrastructure. WiMax, in conjunction with 3G, provides an attractive alternative that, most importantly, is available today.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

The iPhone is still the market leader according to AdMob, and most companies’ metrics reports, but that is starting to become old news. Android is the growth story of 2010. It has already been a hot topic at the year’s biggest trade shows, CES, MWC and CTIA. According to Googleandblog.com, there are currently 115 phones running the Android OS, many of which are in different countries. And that’s just the start. Manufacturers have a slew of Android-based devices planned for the year, even potentially including set-top boxes. AdMob said that the top five Android devices worldwide were the Motorola Droid, HTC Dream, HTC Hero, HTC Magic and Motorola Cliq. Apple also has the iPod Touch, which AdMob said did really well in February, but the score is now 115 to 2.

The fact that Android has five fairly different devices that span all four Tier 1 carriers in the U.S. doing well shows its biggest strength against the iPhone. The iPhone was no doubt a game-changing device, but it is just one device on one carrier (for now). Android still has a ways to go to catch up to the iPhone’s success and market share, but I have a feeling that will happen before the year is over. The game has already been changed; now it’s time to keep playing.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

Skype, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, said in an e-mail statement that it was “seeking clarification” from the regulator about the reported ban.

“In general, we believe it should be up to consumers, not regulatory authorities, to choose the winners and losers in the communications space. That is what happens in competitive markets,” it said.

The ban applies to Egypt’s three mobile operators — Mobinil, Etisalat Egypt and Vodafone Egypt — offering Internet access for computers via USB and other mobile modems, as well as mobile handsets. It does not apply to fixed lines.

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

As a state-run telco, and also one operating in a country that closely monitors mobile traffic, maybe the stakes are different for Telecom Egypt and its customers. But instituting a ban like this certainly raises some questions. First and foremost, questions over what exactly the ban applies to. TechCrunch names a few potential gray areas: Laptops running on 3G? A mobile phone on a Wi-Fi connection connected to a DSL line? Or as one creative commenter asked, “What if I’m connected to a landline but I VPN over to a router that uses 3G ultimately for Internet/VoIP traffic?” It’ll be interesting to see how the regulators respond to Skype.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., Verizon Wireless and Skype announced yesterday at CTIA that their joint Skype mobile client will be available to select BlackBerry and Android devices running on the VZW network on Thursday. At the press conference announcing the news, John Harrobin, VZW senior vice president of digital media and marketing, told attendees that VZW wasn’t worried about dilution from a wireless ARPU standpoint. A difference between Verizon and Telecom Egypt, besides the ownership, is that VZW has the control in its relationship with Skype. Voice ARPU won’t go down because voice plans are still required. Had Telecom Egypt instituted a similar stipulation, it wouldn’t be lost in the gray right now.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

The new Android SDK allows for expandable canvas and multi-panel banner advertisements on Android devices, with the updated iPhone SDK featuring performance enhancements and additional server side flexibility. The new Flash Lite SDK, which is in beta, enables monetization with CPC text ads. And AdMob is rolling out a new adaptive mobile ad unit, which allows for a banner sizes ad unit to remain a constant size as consumers pinch and scroll through a Web site that’s designed for a PC screen on their mobile device.

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

The more ads developers, carriers and companies can use on mobile to reduce the cost of apps and make a business for themselves, the better. The less intrusive and more valuable they can be to more consumers, the better. Mobile advertising done well should be a win-win scenario. As such, AdMob and OpenWave’s tools for mobile advertisers could have nothing but upside, as long as the emphasis is on making the ads less intrusive and more valuable, that is. It appears both are attempting to do this with their respective announcements of enhanced tools and new partnerships. As a result, the battle between operators and third-party networks to drive mobile advertising is also starting to get really interesting.

As OpenWave pointed out this week, mobile operators have always had detailed information on their subscribers, they just needed to do something with it in a way that doesn’t invade users’ privacy but actually adds value to them. It would make sense that the provider that’s able to offer the most targeted, unobtrusive, effective ads will be the most successful, and carriers seem to have a leg up there. But as Google demonstrated today with AdMob, it has access to every operator and a multitude of devices and operating systems — something operators can’t claim today (at least not the multiple-carrier angle). It remains to be seen how fast the carriers will move in this space that AdMob is already quickly taking over. If competition does continue to heat up, though, hopefully the consumer will be the one who wins.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

The few companies that did receive the device — including Major League Baseball, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times — have been subject to Apple’s long list of rules. The companies must agree to keep the iPad hidden from public view, chained to tables in windowless rooms. This although the basic look of the iPad stopped being a secret in January.

And Apple has told all other developers who have downloaded its iPad programming tools to remain silent about their apps until later this month. Apple’s addiction to secrecy does not seem to have damped enthusiasm among developers.

“There’s something about the newness of the iPad that’s driving an even greater level of excitement than what existed in the last year for the iPhone,” said Raven Zachary, president of Small Society, an iPhone software company in Portland, Ore.

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

Apple’s strict policies for iPad app testing are not surprising, but they are especially interesting after a few conversations I’ve had with device and app testing companies in advance of CTIA. Outside of designing and developing a mobile app, developers have a significant challenge in testing it to make sure it is optimized for the screen size, device type, network, geography and a host of other factors, as one testing company told me. A lot of this is done in a virtual environment, but there’s no substitute for having an actual device to work on (same reason Google’s Nexus One online-only sales route hasn’t been that effective).

Considering that the Apple iPad represents an entirely new category, actually testing the apps on it would seem to be relatively important. Luckily, when you are Apple, you can get away with being tightly guarded. A number of developers are finding other ways to test on the iPad, and Apple is granting physical access to a select few. It knows that apps will be extremely important to the success of this new device. Its functionality seeps into other areas of digital life, including e-book reading, video consumption, email creation and music. If it is going to do so many things, it better do them well enough to give consumers a reason to fork over the cash.

Maybe it doesn’t need 150,000 apps like the iPhone, but the right selection of well-tested, iPad-optimized apps is a must. Apple isn’t hurting for developer excitement, although some are waiting it out. In the meantime, MLB.com, New York Times and even the Amazon Kindle are a good start.

That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below:

Westergren disclosed top-line, 2009 revenues of $50 million, but royalty obligations to SoundExchange alone (a cost that does not include publishing) topped $28 million, according to Westergren. The bigger Pandora gets, the bigger its royalty bill, a variable cost structure that makes it difficult for many content-based business to scale.

Either way, Pandora is a serious chunk of total SoundExchange royalty revenues from online radio. Despite all of the wrangling over non-interactive royalties on recordings, Pandora now accounts for roughly 44-45 percent of total SoundExchange royalties for non-interactive streams, according to details confirmed by both companies.

Connected Planet’s take, Sarah Reedy:

I have a new habit now when there’s a particular song I want to hear on my iPhone – first I add the artist as a Pandora station and if, after six tries, I still don’t hear the song I want, I find it on YouTube and listen to it there, ignoring the video. I won’t tell you what artist/song I’m referring to (it’s too embarrassing), but I know I’m not alone in both my love of music and my reluctance to pay for it. There is a seemingly a mobile music out there for everyone, whether they choose to access the music, subscribe to it, own it, view it or just sample it. But, the question of if these apps can make money still up in the air. Pandora has begun using mobile ads to subsidize its challenged business model – a path that other apps are likely to follow.

Making money on mobile music hasn’t been easy for wireless operators either. Most have a strategy in place: T-Mobile pre-loads iTunes alternative DoubleTwist in some of its handsets. Verizon offers a la carte downloads of full-track music, although does not have an unlimited option, such as those offered by handset makers Sony Ericsson and Nokia. AT&T has a relationship in place with both Napster and mSpot for mobile music. But outside of ringtones in the past, music hasn’t been a big revenue generator for any of them yet.

It remains to be seen who will ultimately own mobile music — innovative apps or carriers who already own the billing relationship and a higher degree of integration with the mobile phone. But, before we even get to that point, it also remains to be seen if a real business can even be made from mobile music — ad-driven or otherwise — when so many free options prevail.

That’s our take on this, let us know what you think in the comments below:

The big question is whether apps will continue to largely be free and subsidized with advertising, or whether consumers will buy them. The overall revenue from both paid and ad-supported downloads and virtual goods is expected to increase from $4.1 billion in 2009 to $17.5 billion by 2012. But the mix will change over the next two years: The report found that advertising-based revenue accounted for about 12 percent in 2009, but by 2012, advertising is expected to generate 28 percent of revenues.

The Connected Planet take, Sarah Reedy:

Mobile apps have undeniably changed the game for most of the mobile ecosystem, but they haven’t yet been a significant revenue generator, except for a lucky few. That appears to be changing, and fairly rapidly too. Consumers are showing less price sensitivity, especially to those apps priced low enough to not require much thought. Even more encouraging, though, is the fact that mobile ads are finally starting to make a difference. The ‘year of mobile ads’ has become a joke in the industry, because while most are bullish, there hasn’t been much notable action to date. That is starting to change too if you believe the forecasts. Most ad networks have already begun to move their focus from the mobile Web to mobile apps, especially on smartphones. And new devices like the iPad will also open up even more opportunities for revenue. All things told, the potential of apps to generate money is great news for developers and their respective app-store owners, although underlying issue remains – namely there are still 38+ app-store owners to choose from. Discoverability challenges, fragmentation and competing interests will continue to plague the (increasingly profitable) mobile app industry.

That’s our take on this, let us know what you think in the comments below: